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BETHEL UNIVERSITY
Thursday, October 6, 2005
Volume 81 • Number 6
Truth in their own words
Military personnel speak out about experiences in Iraq
By Cara Lee
Bombs and casualties are
what the general public keeps
track of, while faces and friends
are what three men know.
Col. Jeff Void, USMC and
USMCR, has been involved with
the armed forces since his college years. Void was recruited
during his senior year of high
school. "I thought I was a tough
guy" he said with a smile.
Sgt. Eric Peffley '08, USAR
joined shortly before the Sept.
11 attacks. "I felt a calling; 1
didn't know why but 1 prayed
about it and fell at peace with
the decision [to join). I felt a
sense of duty for my country -1
owe the United States more than
it owes me," Peffley said.
Both Peffley and Void expressed concern about the image that Americans have on the
Iraq war. "It was encouraging to
be over there, then discouraging
to watch the news. It's like there
are two different places," Peffley
said.
Peffley and Void both had
the opportunity to interact with
the Iraqi people on a regular basis. Peffley was in Kuwait for one
month and Iraq for 11. He was
stationed in Baghdad by the international airport in the former
grounds of the North Palace.
He served on the petroleum and water supply, as well
as maintenance. The last three
months, Peffley was a gunner
and driver for convoy security
that escorted officers, made hospital runs and helped civilians.
Void was in Iraq for a little
over half a year. In that time he
was in western Iraq as a liaison
for the military and the Iraqis.
Then in late October he was at
the division command post in
Fallujah to help with the reconstruction effort.
Then in mid-January he
was present for the Iraqi elections, helping at a variety of different polling sites with security
advising, supporting the Iraqi
soldiers and providing general
logistics.
"It was very worthwhile
to be there and I will go back
if I have to, but every day can
be the most frustrating in your
life," said Void, in reference to
the ever-changing daily schedule.
Highlighting some of his
best recollections, Void said,
"The Iraqi people, despite the
danger, really stepped up in the
reconstruction."
Void recalled a time when
he had helped an Iraqi go find
their house. "He [the Iraqi] said
even if his house had been destroyed, at least the bad guys
were gone; the house could be
rebuilt," Void said.
"That really shocked me, I
thought they would have been
bitter," Void said.
Void interacts with the Iraqi children in the area.
Peffley said, "It was powerful, seeing what had come from
war to training the Iraqis. They
were on our side, doing the
same things we were. Many of
them had the attitude 'this is my
country and I want to fight for it
too.' I saw them as grateful; everyone was thankful."
"Iraqi men were in tears,
thanking us with tears in their
eyes," Peffley said.
Both men recalled the people waving and cheering when
they saw Americans! "Kids all
over the world love the United
States Army. In the third world,
they're used to things being
taken, but to see the Marines
means that you'll get things,"
Void said.
Peffley and Void also commented on the morale of their
fellow troops, as well as the
Iraqis. "Morale is a funny thing,
yet in my unit you ;would have
had to look to find soldiers who
didn't want to be there," Peffley
said.
"There will always be ugliness - it's ridiculous to think the
violence will disappear. However, if people get involved - keep
talking, which they are - it can
get better," Void said.
Lt. Col. James MacVarish,
USMC is currently stationed
over in Iraq as the senior advisor
for a team assigned to an Iraqi
battalion in northern Fallujah.
Photos courtesy Jeff Void
"Speaking for the whole team,
we feel that what we are doing
is challenging, important, and
that we are appreciated for our
efforts both by the Iraqi soldiers
with whom we serve and the
folks back home," said MacVarish.
"All of us miss home but we
are so busy that we don't have
time to mope about it. We are
out in the streets of Fallujah every day with the Iraqi soldiers
interacting with civilians and
catching bad guys. My team is
watching the Iraqi army get better every day," MacVarish said.
MacVarish also commented
on the progress being made by
the Iraqi people. "The vast majority of the Iraqi people just
want to go about living their
lives. Just like Americans, they
want safety security and freedom for themselves and their
children. Many of them, however, are unsure of who will be
able to provide this for them,
the new Iraqi government or the
insurgents," he said.
"We see more people every
day come over to our side of the
fence. There is still a ways to go
however," MacVarish said.
Hearing stories such as
these makes it hard to come to
terms with much of the negative
media on the subject of Iraq.
Continued on page two
Former head of education department died
Colleagues remember Junet Runbeck as root of the department
By Christina Erbach
Junet E. Runbeck, former head of the department of
education at Bethel University
and longtime professor, died of
cancer at the age of 91 on September 20, 2005 but will be remembered by many
In 1961, Dr. Carl Lindquist
of Bethel College came to Runbeck and asked her to head up
the department of education at
Bethel. Her promise to Dr. Lundquist was that, after ten years,
the reputation of Bethel's department of education would be
nationally accredited. Because
of Runbeck, this promise was
fulfilled.
According to Professor G.W.
Carlson, Runbeck was a woman
in leadership when being a
woman in leadership was not
the "norm." She always showed
she was willing to confront obstacles, even when the opportunities were not always there and
she was not always welcome.
Runbeck was 48 years old when
she came to Bethel and retired
only when it was necessary at
the age of 66.
Dr. Dwaine Lind, who was
recmited to come to Belhel from
a high school teaching job by
Runbeck, was asked by. her to
sing at her funeral. The song of
choice was "Because He Lives."
Lind said that one of the times
he went to visit Runbeck at the
hospital she had asked him to
sing. Her request was for this
song and that he would have the
congregation sing the first verse
with him after he had finished.
"She wanted people to sing the
first verse and own it," said
Lind. He said that, according to
Runbeck, this song is what got
her through her cancer.
"From retirement until
about a week ago," said Lind,
"she continued to teach everyone around her." He went on
to say that she "built the quality of our programs today, the
foundation." The department of
education had its roots in her.
Everything about her stood for
"excellence, dedication, hard-
work and dependability," stated
Lind.
Carlson spoke of Runbeck
as an independent woman who
developed a program almost
unilaterally. She did the pioneering work for the education
department of Bethel when it
needed its accreditation built
up.
Carlson described Runbeck
as having unlimited energy.
"She has a high expectation
of herself," remembered Carlson, and because of this she had
high expectations of her students. "If you didn't meet them,
you were not given the blessing
to go out into the community
and student-teach," he continued. Runbeck wanted to make
sure that, according to Carlson,
"Bethel students are well trained
and able to hold their own in a
classroom setting."
Most importantly, however, Runbeck also "deeply cared
about the Christian-ness of the
institution," recalled Carlson.
She felt as if it was important
in shaping the character of her
students she was teaching. Two
of her students are actually professors now in the education
department and can testify to
her character and leadership;
Professors Sandy Horn and Faye
Day.
After her retirement in
1980, Runbeck continued to
impact people. In 1990, she
was named Outstanding Senior of Anoka County. In 1996,
she received the Distinguished
Alumnus Award from Pacific
Lutheran University. She was
the recipient of the National
Laubach Literacy Action Award.
She also served as an educator
on the mission field of Ethiopia
for a year, as well as in Mexico
and the Philippines.
According to Carlson, the
funds that were raised in memorial of Runbeck are partially
going towards a Runbeck Development Scholarship.
Hotel Rwanda hero
impacts Bethel students
By Stephanie Schmidt
On Sept. 18, Paul Rusesabagina, the real-life hero
that inspired the movie Hotel
Rwanda, spoke at Temple Israel
in Minneapolis.
His story of courage and
triumph from the 1994 Rwanda genocides prompted a full
house in the Jewish temple,
where Rusesabagina shared his
story and pleaded with audience members to help stop future catastrophes such as the
one he had endured,
Bethel professor Sandie
McNeel was present, along with
students from her CAPS class,
"Moving Toward Global Leadership."
"I'm always looking for cultural events for my students to
attend," McNeel said, and Rus-
esabagina's Twin Cities appearance was a perfect opportunity
for her students to learn.
Rusesabagina was the manager of a hotel in Rwanda during the time of the 1994 massacres. With incredible bravery, he
housed hundreds of Rwandans
and fought to keep them safe
from death.
"He was such a courageous
man," said McNeel. "He.never
gave up trying to bargain for a
few more days or a few more
people or a few more policemen."
Despite the fact that these
Rwandans were in broad daylight and were still sought out
to be killed, Rusesabagina did
everything in his power to
keep them alive. He tried to
bargain and negotiate with enemies and attackers; he made
as many phone calls as possible—when the phone lines actually worked—trying to get the
world to pay attention.
Unfortunately no one did.
Todd Riley a student in Mc-
Neel's class, was deeply moved
after understanding the extent
of what happened in Rwanda.
"Growing up in the Midwest and settling in the suburbs,
I had isolated myself from world
news and was unaware," he said.
"1 ignored the genocide, and for
that 1 am deeply sorry"
The UN peacekeepers who
had been assigned to Rwanda at
that time were not given enough
authority to intervene and were
overwhelmed by all of the violence. In an attempt to avoid
this from happening again, Rusesabagina is begging the world
to pay attention and to get involved.
"He was very serious in his
presentation," McNeel said. "It
wasn't melodramatic." Ruse-
sabagina's demeanor throughout the presentation suggested
how important this topic was
and still is.
According to McNeel, massacres and genocides are still
occurring in the world today,
particularly in the Sudan. McNeel is joining Rusesabagina in
begging people to help.
"We can have a voice, we
can apply pressure if we choose
to do that," she said. One of the
ways that McNeel urges people
get involved is to write to their
government representatives for
help. Not only can future massacres be stopped, but past massacres are still in need of closure.
In the case of the Rwanda
genocides, even though 5,000
people were detained for war
crimes, only 25 of them have
appeared in court. And according to McNeel, something needs
to be done,
Rusesabagina's mission is
one of redemption and calling
people to help. "He is choosing to spend his energy now...
to galvanize people into action
land to] save lives," McNeel
said.
The film Hotel Rwanda,
which depicts Rusesabagina's
heroic efforts, will be shown on
February 7 at the Bethel Film
Forum. McNeel encourages everyone to attend and to see just
how much of an impact Rusesabagina had.
Riley was also inspired by
Rusesabagina's life and the story
that inspired the movie.
"My children will definitely
see Hotel Rwanda when they
are old enough to understand
the magnitude of the event," he
said. "We all can do something,
whether it's a simple letter to a
congressman about helping the
Rwandan government bring
criminals to justice or the situation in Darfur, Sudan."
"[Rusesabagina] did all of
this at such tremendous personal risk," McNeel said. "He just
always maintained hope and belief that some could be saved."
Reconciliation
Chapel
Students and faculty
attended the special chapel
session promoting
reconciliation at Bethel.

Reproduction or distribution of these files is permitted for educational and research purposes with proper attribution to the Bethel Digital Library. No commercial reproduction or distribution of these files is permitted under copyright law without the written permission of Bethel University Digital Library. For questions or further information on this collection, contact digital-library@bethel.edu.

Reproduction or distribution of these files is permitted for educational and research purposes with proper attribution to the Bethel Digital Library. No commercial reproduction or distribution of these files is permitted under copyright law without the written permission of Bethel University Digital Library. For questions or further information on this collection, contact digital-library@bethel.edu.

BETHEL UNIVERSITY
Thursday, October 6, 2005
Volume 81 • Number 6
Truth in their own words
Military personnel speak out about experiences in Iraq
By Cara Lee
Bombs and casualties are
what the general public keeps
track of, while faces and friends
are what three men know.
Col. Jeff Void, USMC and
USMCR, has been involved with
the armed forces since his college years. Void was recruited
during his senior year of high
school. "I thought I was a tough
guy" he said with a smile.
Sgt. Eric Peffley '08, USAR
joined shortly before the Sept.
11 attacks. "I felt a calling; 1
didn't know why but 1 prayed
about it and fell at peace with
the decision [to join). I felt a
sense of duty for my country -1
owe the United States more than
it owes me," Peffley said.
Both Peffley and Void expressed concern about the image that Americans have on the
Iraq war. "It was encouraging to
be over there, then discouraging
to watch the news. It's like there
are two different places," Peffley
said.
Peffley and Void both had
the opportunity to interact with
the Iraqi people on a regular basis. Peffley was in Kuwait for one
month and Iraq for 11. He was
stationed in Baghdad by the international airport in the former
grounds of the North Palace.
He served on the petroleum and water supply, as well
as maintenance. The last three
months, Peffley was a gunner
and driver for convoy security
that escorted officers, made hospital runs and helped civilians.
Void was in Iraq for a little
over half a year. In that time he
was in western Iraq as a liaison
for the military and the Iraqis.
Then in late October he was at
the division command post in
Fallujah to help with the reconstruction effort.
Then in mid-January he
was present for the Iraqi elections, helping at a variety of different polling sites with security
advising, supporting the Iraqi
soldiers and providing general
logistics.
"It was very worthwhile
to be there and I will go back
if I have to, but every day can
be the most frustrating in your
life," said Void, in reference to
the ever-changing daily schedule.
Highlighting some of his
best recollections, Void said,
"The Iraqi people, despite the
danger, really stepped up in the
reconstruction."
Void recalled a time when
he had helped an Iraqi go find
their house. "He [the Iraqi] said
even if his house had been destroyed, at least the bad guys
were gone; the house could be
rebuilt," Void said.
"That really shocked me, I
thought they would have been
bitter," Void said.
Void interacts with the Iraqi children in the area.
Peffley said, "It was powerful, seeing what had come from
war to training the Iraqis. They
were on our side, doing the
same things we were. Many of
them had the attitude 'this is my
country and I want to fight for it
too.' I saw them as grateful; everyone was thankful."
"Iraqi men were in tears,
thanking us with tears in their
eyes," Peffley said.
Both men recalled the people waving and cheering when
they saw Americans! "Kids all
over the world love the United
States Army. In the third world,
they're used to things being
taken, but to see the Marines
means that you'll get things,"
Void said.
Peffley and Void also commented on the morale of their
fellow troops, as well as the
Iraqis. "Morale is a funny thing,
yet in my unit you ;would have
had to look to find soldiers who
didn't want to be there," Peffley
said.
"There will always be ugliness - it's ridiculous to think the
violence will disappear. However, if people get involved - keep
talking, which they are - it can
get better," Void said.
Lt. Col. James MacVarish,
USMC is currently stationed
over in Iraq as the senior advisor
for a team assigned to an Iraqi
battalion in northern Fallujah.
Photos courtesy Jeff Void
"Speaking for the whole team,
we feel that what we are doing
is challenging, important, and
that we are appreciated for our
efforts both by the Iraqi soldiers
with whom we serve and the
folks back home," said MacVarish.
"All of us miss home but we
are so busy that we don't have
time to mope about it. We are
out in the streets of Fallujah every day with the Iraqi soldiers
interacting with civilians and
catching bad guys. My team is
watching the Iraqi army get better every day," MacVarish said.
MacVarish also commented
on the progress being made by
the Iraqi people. "The vast majority of the Iraqi people just
want to go about living their
lives. Just like Americans, they
want safety security and freedom for themselves and their
children. Many of them, however, are unsure of who will be
able to provide this for them,
the new Iraqi government or the
insurgents," he said.
"We see more people every
day come over to our side of the
fence. There is still a ways to go
however," MacVarish said.
Hearing stories such as
these makes it hard to come to
terms with much of the negative
media on the subject of Iraq.
Continued on page two
Former head of education department died
Colleagues remember Junet Runbeck as root of the department
By Christina Erbach
Junet E. Runbeck, former head of the department of
education at Bethel University
and longtime professor, died of
cancer at the age of 91 on September 20, 2005 but will be remembered by many
In 1961, Dr. Carl Lindquist
of Bethel College came to Runbeck and asked her to head up
the department of education at
Bethel. Her promise to Dr. Lundquist was that, after ten years,
the reputation of Bethel's department of education would be
nationally accredited. Because
of Runbeck, this promise was
fulfilled.
According to Professor G.W.
Carlson, Runbeck was a woman
in leadership when being a
woman in leadership was not
the "norm." She always showed
she was willing to confront obstacles, even when the opportunities were not always there and
she was not always welcome.
Runbeck was 48 years old when
she came to Bethel and retired
only when it was necessary at
the age of 66.
Dr. Dwaine Lind, who was
recmited to come to Belhel from
a high school teaching job by
Runbeck, was asked by. her to
sing at her funeral. The song of
choice was "Because He Lives."
Lind said that one of the times
he went to visit Runbeck at the
hospital she had asked him to
sing. Her request was for this
song and that he would have the
congregation sing the first verse
with him after he had finished.
"She wanted people to sing the
first verse and own it," said
Lind. He said that, according to
Runbeck, this song is what got
her through her cancer.
"From retirement until
about a week ago," said Lind,
"she continued to teach everyone around her." He went on
to say that she "built the quality of our programs today, the
foundation." The department of
education had its roots in her.
Everything about her stood for
"excellence, dedication, hard-
work and dependability," stated
Lind.
Carlson spoke of Runbeck
as an independent woman who
developed a program almost
unilaterally. She did the pioneering work for the education
department of Bethel when it
needed its accreditation built
up.
Carlson described Runbeck
as having unlimited energy.
"She has a high expectation
of herself," remembered Carlson, and because of this she had
high expectations of her students. "If you didn't meet them,
you were not given the blessing
to go out into the community
and student-teach," he continued. Runbeck wanted to make
sure that, according to Carlson,
"Bethel students are well trained
and able to hold their own in a
classroom setting."
Most importantly, however, Runbeck also "deeply cared
about the Christian-ness of the
institution," recalled Carlson.
She felt as if it was important
in shaping the character of her
students she was teaching. Two
of her students are actually professors now in the education
department and can testify to
her character and leadership;
Professors Sandy Horn and Faye
Day.
After her retirement in
1980, Runbeck continued to
impact people. In 1990, she
was named Outstanding Senior of Anoka County. In 1996,
she received the Distinguished
Alumnus Award from Pacific
Lutheran University. She was
the recipient of the National
Laubach Literacy Action Award.
She also served as an educator
on the mission field of Ethiopia
for a year, as well as in Mexico
and the Philippines.
According to Carlson, the
funds that were raised in memorial of Runbeck are partially
going towards a Runbeck Development Scholarship.
Hotel Rwanda hero
impacts Bethel students
By Stephanie Schmidt
On Sept. 18, Paul Rusesabagina, the real-life hero
that inspired the movie Hotel
Rwanda, spoke at Temple Israel
in Minneapolis.
His story of courage and
triumph from the 1994 Rwanda genocides prompted a full
house in the Jewish temple,
where Rusesabagina shared his
story and pleaded with audience members to help stop future catastrophes such as the
one he had endured,
Bethel professor Sandie
McNeel was present, along with
students from her CAPS class,
"Moving Toward Global Leadership."
"I'm always looking for cultural events for my students to
attend," McNeel said, and Rus-
esabagina's Twin Cities appearance was a perfect opportunity
for her students to learn.
Rusesabagina was the manager of a hotel in Rwanda during the time of the 1994 massacres. With incredible bravery, he
housed hundreds of Rwandans
and fought to keep them safe
from death.
"He was such a courageous
man," said McNeel. "He.never
gave up trying to bargain for a
few more days or a few more
people or a few more policemen."
Despite the fact that these
Rwandans were in broad daylight and were still sought out
to be killed, Rusesabagina did
everything in his power to
keep them alive. He tried to
bargain and negotiate with enemies and attackers; he made
as many phone calls as possible—when the phone lines actually worked—trying to get the
world to pay attention.
Unfortunately no one did.
Todd Riley a student in Mc-
Neel's class, was deeply moved
after understanding the extent
of what happened in Rwanda.
"Growing up in the Midwest and settling in the suburbs,
I had isolated myself from world
news and was unaware," he said.
"1 ignored the genocide, and for
that 1 am deeply sorry"
The UN peacekeepers who
had been assigned to Rwanda at
that time were not given enough
authority to intervene and were
overwhelmed by all of the violence. In an attempt to avoid
this from happening again, Rusesabagina is begging the world
to pay attention and to get involved.
"He was very serious in his
presentation," McNeel said. "It
wasn't melodramatic." Ruse-
sabagina's demeanor throughout the presentation suggested
how important this topic was
and still is.
According to McNeel, massacres and genocides are still
occurring in the world today,
particularly in the Sudan. McNeel is joining Rusesabagina in
begging people to help.
"We can have a voice, we
can apply pressure if we choose
to do that," she said. One of the
ways that McNeel urges people
get involved is to write to their
government representatives for
help. Not only can future massacres be stopped, but past massacres are still in need of closure.
In the case of the Rwanda
genocides, even though 5,000
people were detained for war
crimes, only 25 of them have
appeared in court. And according to McNeel, something needs
to be done,
Rusesabagina's mission is
one of redemption and calling
people to help. "He is choosing to spend his energy now...
to galvanize people into action
land to] save lives," McNeel
said.
The film Hotel Rwanda,
which depicts Rusesabagina's
heroic efforts, will be shown on
February 7 at the Bethel Film
Forum. McNeel encourages everyone to attend and to see just
how much of an impact Rusesabagina had.
Riley was also inspired by
Rusesabagina's life and the story
that inspired the movie.
"My children will definitely
see Hotel Rwanda when they
are old enough to understand
the magnitude of the event," he
said. "We all can do something,
whether it's a simple letter to a
congressman about helping the
Rwandan government bring
criminals to justice or the situation in Darfur, Sudan."
"[Rusesabagina] did all of
this at such tremendous personal risk," McNeel said. "He just
always maintained hope and belief that some could be saved."
Reconciliation
Chapel
Students and faculty
attended the special chapel
session promoting
reconciliation at Bethel.